Evelyn's Visit to Aberdeen in 2002

From Evelyn Cooper, July 2002:

This photo was taken near Braeman on my visit to Aberdeen this year. We are in a jolly mood, having just partaken of an excellent barbeque (with wine) supplied by Pattie and Douglas -- Mary's daughter and son in [can't read the town].

Christmas Day in Randolph

We spent a cozy Christmas day in Randolph this year. There's still snow on the ground, but not as much as about a week ago. The weather was very chilly and we had a fire in the fireplace. Again there was more eating and drinking. We had a big pancake breakfast after opening the presents. Later we ate turkey with all the trimmings and pumpkin pie for dessert.

As a joke, my parents got Amy and I "snuggies" and we laughed about that for a while. I can't bear to put the photos from that on here. It isn't pretty.

We did some after Christmas shopping and I picked up a "Coraline" for us to watch at night. It was fun because it came with 3-D glasses. I"m sure it wasn't exactly like it would be in the theatre, but it was pretty interesting. While I was really excited to see the movie, I fell asleep towards the end with my 3-D glasses on and all. Amy thought this was pretty funny.

Christmas Eve 2009 in NJ

We spent Christmas Eve in New Jersey at the Asheys' house with my Aunt Kathryn, cousins Jeff, Pete, Liz, their daughters (Jill and Paige), my sister and my parents.

I was a little late because I had to work on until about 3 PM on Christmas Eve as my company throws a party for employees' children that day and my team runs the party. The party went well. There were games, crafts, sing-a-longs, and lots of kid-friendly food. Decor included balloon arches and giant snowmen and penguins.

I hopped on the train from Newark and my parents picked up in Raritan. Then, we headed to my cousins' house. When we got there, we were greeted by their chocolate lab, Cody, and my cousin Pete. There were tons of appetizers and wine. After that, we had a delicious dinner of pork, gravy, green beans and salad among other things.

Around dessert, we were visited by some close friends of my cousins'. Their kids are similar ages to Jill and Paige. The adults talked in the dining room while the girls (and their brother) hung out in the living room. When the guests left, we went to the living room to open the presents.

Jill and Paige got a brand new electric guitar and amp. Jeff played a song or two and helped Paige to pluck out a tune. They were thrilled. Everyone seemed very happy with their gifts. Cody was eager to get in on the fun and jumped around with us.

There was talk of Santa coming soon, so we decided it was time to leave and headed back to Randolph to get some sleep before another day of eating and drinking.

Pictured: (top, right) Sue, Amy and Heather; (middle, left) Aunt K, Paige and Jeff; (middle, left) Liz and Jill; (bottom, left) Group shot.

New Home for Heather

Sorry I've been out of touch for so long, but life has been very hectic for me. A lot of big changes at once. Most of my time has been filled with preparing to move, then moving and then settling in to my new home. In addition, I am in my busiest season at work. All in all, a very busy time for me.

My new place is shaping up pretty well. I got most of the furniture that I needed. I was thrilled to get my new bed! Sleeping on a mattress on the floor gets old pretty quick. It has a a bunch of drawers under it so that I don't need a dresser.

Another cool thing that I got is a little table that folds up into a little box where you can keep the extra chairs. It's perfect for a small space like mine. And, it got delivered all put together so I didn't have to battle with instructions or funny shaped tools and things.


The location of my new place is better than I had hoped. I'm near a lot of major subway stops and still in the same neighborhood as before. It's great. Hope that you can come to see it soon!